Ischyropsalis is a genus of harvestmen found in Europe, members of which have conspicuously enlarged chelicerae in both sexes. Members of this genus are specialist predators of snails, using their large chelicerae to break open the snail's shell.

Characters (from Schönhofer 2013): Palps long and thin, elongated to enable interaction with the chelicerae. Chelicerae massive and enlarged, longer than the body; in most species glandular fields of males associated with knob-like apophyses exposing the field to dorsal and/or distal side. Truncus penis simple, filled up to two thirds with a single muscle; muscular tendon short; base of truncus divided into two short root-like structures; glans penis usually simple and conical, but inflated and distinct from the truncus in many species; the sclerotised ventral plate mostly short, from roughly rhombic to deeply bi-lobed at the base; sclerotised area of glans with several defined regions exhibiting dense fields of mostly very thick, long and backward-pointing hairs; glans gradually tapering into a long stylus, the latter simple and pointed, bent at the base but without contortion or additional structures. Tuber oculorum without spine. Dorsal armature mostly lacking, dorsum smooth, often glossy, in few species opisthosomal areas raised to low, pointed bumps. Two or many spine-like metapeltidial structures, arranged in a transversal row.

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About the Dendrograms

Most entries on this site are furnished with a dendrogram (tree diagram), showing taxa included in the subject taxon. These diagrams are not primarily intended to represent cladograms. Taxa in the dendrogram may be arranged taxonomically or phylogenetically; priority has been given to taxonomic arrangements, and formally-named taxa are presented as if they were monophyletic unless one of the source references has indicated otherwise. The reference for each element of a dendrogram is represented by an alphanumeric code derived from the author(s)' initials and the publication date (e.g. 'B09'); the identity of the reference so coded can be found in the reference listing. Some taxa may have more than one reference listed against them: for instance, one reference may have indicated the phylogenetic position or current combination of a taxon, while another may have indicated the taxon's authorship. Synonyms of species and genera have been listed with '=' to indicate an objective synonymy, 'incl' (includes) to indicate a subjective synonymy.

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